Want The Gold Standard? Ok, Then You Like How Things Are Going Down In Greece

Peter Schiff and economist James Galbraith showed up on CNBC
today for a somewhat maddening debate about the seriousness of
the US deficit. We say maddening because the two are so far apart
on the issue that debate is impossible, and both of them are
largely informed by ideology rather than a rational debate about
what's happening right now.

Bottom line: Galbraith has absolutely no fear about the deficit
because we can print, and he notes that long-term rates are low.
Schiff says the US government is a subprime borrower.

What's interesting is when they talk about Greece. Schiff says
the US is the next Greece. Galbraith says the difference is that
Greece is a member of the euro and doesn't control its currency
(it can't print).

The key line though is when Schiff says: "The fact that Greece
can't print money is a good thing."

This is the aha line that reveals Schiff's true
ideology. It's better to have an inflexible currency where you're
forced to default, rather than have the ability to print and
inflate. Essentially Greece is under a modern version of the gold
standard -- it doesn't have a currency, it just has a supply of
euros that it doesn't control, much like any country would be if
its currency were gold.